{"title":"Social and Mental Health Factors Involved in the Severity of Loneliness in Older Individuals in a Spanish Rural Area.","authors":"Mayra Alejandra Mafla-España, Silvia Corchón, Paula Jimeno-de Pedro, Vanessa Ibáñez-Del Valle, Omar Cauli","doi":"10.3390/nursrep14040273","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background</b>: Loneliness in older people, especially those living in rural areas, is a phenomenon that has received little attention in research and can have detrimental effects on quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate loneliness and the psychosocial factors associated with loneliness in rural Spain, which have been minimally studied. <b>Methods</b>: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of permanently resident older people in the <i>Rincón de Ademuz</i> region (Valencia, Spain), a geographic area with very low population density. Emotional and social loneliness were assessed using the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. We also assessed whether loneliness is associated with sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and autonomy in basic and instrumental activities of daily living. <b>Results</b>: A total of 108 community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years and older participated in the study out of a total sample of 181. Of them, 30.6% experienced feelings of moderate loneliness, while 2.8% presented severe loneliness. A significant correlation was found between loneliness and age (Rho = 0.28, <i>p</i> = 0.003). Significant differences were also observed between emotional loneliness and gender (<i>p</i> = 0.03) but not between social loneliness and the total score on the de Jong Gierveld Scale. Men experienced more emotional loneliness than women. In the multivariate analyses, significant associations were found between the degree of loneliness and having sons/daughters (<i>p</i> = 0.03; odds ratio [OR] = 0.24; 95% CI 0.06-0.89) and the role of caring for a dependent person (<i>p</i> = 0.002; odds ratio [OR] = 0.05; 95% CI 0.009-0.36) but not living with sons/daughters or the presence of grandchildren. <b>Conclusions</b>: There is a high prevalence of loneliness among older people living in rural areas, which is associated with some social factors. Therefore, nursing care plans should include assessments and interventions to prevent or detect and address loneliness in older people. This study was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials on 24 April 2024 with registration number NCT06382181.</p>","PeriodicalId":40753,"journal":{"name":"Nursing Reports","volume":"14 4","pages":"3737-3753"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11676766/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nursing Reports","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep14040273","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Loneliness in older people, especially those living in rural areas, is a phenomenon that has received little attention in research and can have detrimental effects on quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate loneliness and the psychosocial factors associated with loneliness in rural Spain, which have been minimally studied. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of permanently resident older people in the Rincón de Ademuz region (Valencia, Spain), a geographic area with very low population density. Emotional and social loneliness were assessed using the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. We also assessed whether loneliness is associated with sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and autonomy in basic and instrumental activities of daily living. Results: A total of 108 community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years and older participated in the study out of a total sample of 181. Of them, 30.6% experienced feelings of moderate loneliness, while 2.8% presented severe loneliness. A significant correlation was found between loneliness and age (Rho = 0.28, p = 0.003). Significant differences were also observed between emotional loneliness and gender (p = 0.03) but not between social loneliness and the total score on the de Jong Gierveld Scale. Men experienced more emotional loneliness than women. In the multivariate analyses, significant associations were found between the degree of loneliness and having sons/daughters (p = 0.03; odds ratio [OR] = 0.24; 95% CI 0.06-0.89) and the role of caring for a dependent person (p = 0.002; odds ratio [OR] = 0.05; 95% CI 0.009-0.36) but not living with sons/daughters or the presence of grandchildren. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of loneliness among older people living in rural areas, which is associated with some social factors. Therefore, nursing care plans should include assessments and interventions to prevent or detect and address loneliness in older people. This study was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials on 24 April 2024 with registration number NCT06382181.
背景：老年人的孤独感，特别是那些生活在农村地区的老年人，是一种在研究中很少受到关注的现象，可能对生活质量产生不利影响。本研究的目的是评估西班牙农村孤独感和与孤独感相关的社会心理因素，这方面的研究很少。方法：在人口密度非常低的地理区域Rincón de Ademuz地区（西班牙瓦伦西亚）的常住老年人样本中进行了横断研究。使用de Jong Gierveld孤独量表评估情感和社交孤独。我们还评估了孤独感是否与睡眠质量、抑郁症状以及日常生活中基本和工具性活动的自主性有关。结果：在181个总样本中，共有108个65岁及以上的社区居民参与了研究。其中，30.6%的人有中度孤独感，2.8%的人有重度孤独感。孤独感与年龄有显著相关（Rho = 0.28, p = 0.003）。情感孤独与性别之间也存在显著差异（p = 0.03），但社交孤独与de Jong Gierveld量表总分之间没有显著差异。男性比女性经历了更多的情感孤独。在多变量分析中，发现孤独程度与生育子女之间存在显著关联(p = 0.03；优势比[OR] = 0.24；95% CI 0.06-0.89)和照顾依赖者的角色(p = 0.002；优势比[OR] = 0.05；95% CI 0.009-0.36)，但没有与儿子/女儿或孙子孙女一起生活。结论：农村老年人存在较高的孤独感，这与一些社会因素有关。因此，护理计划应包括评估和干预措施，以预防或发现和解决老年人的孤独感。该研究于2024年4月24日在临床试验中回顾性注册，注册号为NCT06382181。
期刊介绍：
Nursing Reports is an open access, peer-reviewed, online-only journal that aims to influence the art and science of nursing by making rigorously conducted research accessible and understood to the full spectrum of practicing nurses, academics, educators and interested members of the public. The journal represents an exhilarating opportunity to make a unique and significant contribution to nursing and the wider community by addressing topics, theories and issues that concern the whole field of Nursing Science, including research, practice, policy and education. The primary intent of the journal is to present scientifically sound and influential empirical and theoretical studies, critical reviews and open debates to the global community of nurses. Short reports, opinions and insight into the plight of nurses the world-over will provide a voice for those of all cultures, governments and perspectives. The emphasis of Nursing Reports will be on ensuring that the highest quality of evidence and contribution is made available to the greatest number of nurses. Nursing Reports aims to make original, evidence-based, peer-reviewed research available to the global community of nurses and to interested members of the public. In addition, reviews of the literature, open debates on professional issues and short reports from around the world are invited to contribute to our vibrant and dynamic journal. All published work will adhere to the most stringent ethical standards and journalistic principles of fairness, worth and credibility. Our journal publishes Editorials, Original Articles, Review articles, Critical Debates, Short Reports from Around the Globe and Letters to the Editor.
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